Personality

Question 1

Psychometrics makes 2 fundamental assumptions about the mental constructs it attempts to measure. What are those?

Answer 1

1. They exist
2. They can be
   measured and quantified

Question 2

What is the APA definition of personality?

Answer 2

Personality refers to “individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving”

Question 3

Key assumptions about personality?

Answer 3

• Personality is stable over time
• Personality influences behavior
• There are a (finite) number of dimensions on which people can differ. These dimensions are referred as personality traits

Question 4

Hippocrates’ 4 humors/ temperaments?

Answer 4

Sanguine, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic

Question 5

Sanguine…

Answer 5

Blood

Sociable, playful, carefree

Question 6

Choleric…

Answer 6

Yellow bile

Ambitious, relentless, hot tempred

Question 7

Melancholic…

Answer 7

Black bile

Quiet, analytical, despondent

Question 8

Phlegmatic…

Answer 8

Phlegm

Calm, peaceful, lazy

Question 9

What is factor analysis?

Answer 9

Factors consist of items that correlate highly with each other but lowly with other items on the scale

Question 10

Cattell?

Answer 10

• Used factor analysis to identify 16 ‘personality factors’

- Developed the 16PF questionnaire

Question 11

Eysenck’s Personality Theory

Answer 11

• Used factor analysis on Cattell’s data
• Reducde Cattell’s 16PF into 2 factors:
  1. Extraversion/introversion
  2. Emotionally unstable (neurotic) / Emotionally stable

Eysenck later included a 3rd factorL Psychoticism

Question 12

Big 5 personality factors

Answer 12

Openness to experience (O)
- inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious

Conscientiousness (C)
- efficient/organized vs. easy-going/careless

Extraversion (E)
- outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved

Agreeableness (A)
- friendly/compassionate vs. analytical/detached

Neuroticism (N)
- sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident

Question 13

NEO-Personality Inventory Revised is used for…

Answer 13

measuring the Big 5

Question 14

Structure of NEO-Personality Inventory Revised?

Answer 14

• 240 questions (48 for each of the 5 factors)
• 5 point scale (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)
• Each factor is comprised of 6 ‘facets’ (sub-factors)

Question 15

Reliability of NEO-PI-R?

Answer 15

• Internal consistency ~ 0.9; Test-retest (1 week) ~ 0.9

Question 16

Validity of NEO-PI-R?

Answer 16

• Criterion validity: Conscientiousness predicts GPA of Uni students
• Convergenet validity: NEO-PI-R Extraversion score correlates highly
  with Eysenck Extraversion score

Question 17

Some other scales used for Big 5 measurement?

Answer 17

Big Five Inventory; Five Factor PI

Question 18

Cobb-Clark and Schurer study?

Answer 18

Stability of Big 5 over 4 years

• ~6000 adults completed BFPI
• change is in the second decimal place

Question 19

Soldz and Valient 1999 study?

Answer 19

Stability of Big 5 over 45 years

• 123 men completed NEO-PI at college and again after 45 years
• High correlations between baseline and follow-up for Neuroticism, Openness to experience, and Extraversion

Question 20

McCrae 1998 study of cross-cultural validity of NEO-PI-R?

Answer 20

• NEO-PI-R completed by American, French, and Filipino individuals
• Used factor analysis
• Big 5 factors emerged in all 3 groups

Question 21

Evidence against universality of big 5?

Answer 21

Gurven et al 2012

• Gave BFI to 632 Tsimane people from the Bolivian jungle
• Factor analysis - big 5 didn’t emerge
• Instead there was ‘Tsimane Big Two’
  
  • Prosociality and INdustriousness

Question 22

Heritability of big 5?

Answer 22

Jang et al 1996 Study

• Gave NEO-PIR to 123 MZ and DZ twins
• MZ
• O and E most heritable
• A was the least

Question 23

Jang et al 1996 Study

Answer 23

Big 5 heritable

• Gave NEO-PIR to 123 MZ and DZ twins
• MZ
• O and E most heritable
• A was the least

Question 24

Neurobiological correlates of Big 5?

Answer 24

• Higher extraversion - more grey matter in OFC; related to inhibition (counterintuitive?)
• Agreeableness - superior temporal sulcus; where the mirror neurons lie
  
  • Fire when you perform an action, and when someone else performs the same action
  • Involved in monitoring the intentions of other people
• Openness - no significant neurocorrelates
• Conscientiousness - MFG
• Neuroticism - lots, including amygdala

Question 25

Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Answer 25

16 different types categorised on the basis of 4 dichotomies

• Extraverted/Introverted
• Sensing/Intuitive
• Thinking/Feeling
• Judging/Perceiving
• Very categorical
• Not widely used in research

Question 26

What is the Dark Triad?

Answer 26

• Subclinical set of three negative personality traits
• Evidence that DT traits tend to be higher in certain groups, including CEOs
• Narcissism
• Psychopathy
• Machiavellianism